Today I decided to see my how my net worth would look next to Bill Gates’s net worth. According to Wikipedia, he has about 50 billion dollars, and made a rough guess that I had about 25 thousand (including savings and assets). According to these numbers, he has two million times as much money as I do.

In terms of distance, if his money was 100 meters, then mine would be 1/20th of a millimeter, or 50 microns. I measured a hair from the top of my head at 65 microns. Imagine that Bill Gates’s earthly possessions are the length of a soccer field, and then put a hair across that length. The width of that hair would represent more than everything I own.

This micrometer measures in inches (.05mm is just under .002"), and can open to a maximum of 1". The barely-visible gap represents my life savings.